Month: February 2015

A few weeks back I was talking to a Microsoft Store rep over the phone and commented that I thought it was kind of silly that we’re all still using telephones to talk with companies that make products like Lync (soon to be Skype for Business) and Skype. I was in another call with a Google support person – and they also used the phone – instead of Hangouts.

I’ve been wondering when it’d become commonplace for people to interact with companies via video call and today we’ve moved another step in that direction.

It looks like a similar service to LivePerson. I helped set up LivePerson at my employer, and later we moved to a less mature Cisco-based chat platform so it’s nice to see something like VideoDesk come along to fill that niche.

Ultimately I think the best user experience will come when I can use a Skype URI (click here to say “Hi” if you have Skype installed) on a website to join the chat queue for a call center (or is that chat-center?). Such functionality would be part of a Lync or Skype-For-Business offering, but currently this appears to be a long way off.

One way to integrate an older business with Skype (without maintaining a Skype account) is through Bing Ads call extensions. Skype users can click to call the business on their existing land-line. Seems like an interesting way to drum up call volume.

As for me, I just interact with businesses via Skype the old fashioned way – by asking the employees if they’re on Skype and if they’d be willing to answer questions about their products periodically. Occasionally the answer is yes – usually with smaller businesses and it’s been really convenient. The business owners seemed to think it worked well too.

Have you used Skype or another video calling service to contact a business? Or have you used video calling for customer service as a part of your business? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!